We don't get to use our trucks as trucks very often at work. In fact, i don't know if anyone besides me has ever really gotten to tow anything.

So i got the chance to move 2 portable message boards today for an upcoming project.

the truck is a 2010 XL Scab 6.5' 5.4 6sp 4x2 w/ 3.55 LSD. The boards i moved were about 6x12 on about 14 foot single axle trailers. The one board had a 3500lb axle and it felt like it was not quite that much, maybe 3k total. The other one had a 5200lb axle and the tag said it was 3700lbs. I'd have no arguements with the listed weight, it did feel a bit heavier than the 1st board.

The entire trip was made at about 65mph on a mix of interstate and 2-lane highway. Total mileage put on today was a tick over 300 miles.

so that's the equipment, and here's my likes and dislikes about the truck.

first off the likes:

the stability was awesome. these boards catch a lot of wind from the side and can tend to work the driver in a stiff sidewind. The truck was perfect in every way for this. One handed driving was normal. Semi's passing would impart just the slightest wiggle for which i just grabbed the wheel with both hands for safety's sake.

The power was awesome. getting the boards up to speed was almost effortless. You could tell there was some weight behind you and it did take a little longer to get up to speed, but the truck did not labor a bit.

the brakes are awesome. I don't think i've ever had that much weight behind me with no trailer brakes and not felt like i could use a little more braking ability. the binders on these trucks inspire confidence! Never once did i feel like the truck wouldnt make the stop ... very nice.

The ride was very nice for the abuse these trailers impart on the tow vehicle. don't get me wrong, i knew the heavier one was there and it did ride farily rough. but it was FAR better than my old '99 .. much more able to handle the tounge weight.

mileage was pretty good considering the winds and hills. got 13.4 by the pump or 14.0 by the computer burning E30. no complaints there.

now... the dislikes ...

one small querk. for some reason the trailer sway control randomly switches to "off" instead of "on" by default. I checked it each time before i hit the road, once it was on, once it was off.... should default to "on" so i'm not sure what's up there.

my one big complaint .. the transmission!
This trip has cemented my decision that i will not buy a 09 or 10 without the select shift option. I was thinking i could live with it, but i dont think i can. this thing just shifted all the freaking time .... irritating to say the least. I used the tow/haul anytime i had the trailer on.

here's what i noticed. it would always get up to the highest gear possible whenever it was flat or down hill. The problem is, it's never flat. every down hill is followed by an uphill, and it can't pull squat in 6th gear up a hill.

every hill required a downshift or double downshift. It was smooth about it, but when it is shifting up and down every 30 seconds, it is still irritating.

I do not belive that this trans would last 200k miles if use for towing frequently. The torque converter lock up strategy reminds me of my 95 t-bird, and every 94-95 was plagued with chronic TC issues because of the soft lockup they were trying to do. the 2010 does some of the same things. If you watch the tach on every down shift, it unlocks the converter to soften the shift feel. then, it starts to lock the converter, but it does it VERY slowly. I counted 3 seconds from the time the RPM's started to drop to the time they finished dropping.... this does not bode well for TC clutch life.

If it had not tried to pull in 6th, it would have walked up nearly every hill without shifting with a single downshift to 4th only being required on the steepest of hills.

The tow/haul mode is suposed to reduce shift frequency and eliminate gear hunting, according to the book anyway. I'd say a downshift every 30 seconds is gear hunting, so for me the Select Shift will be a requirment of any future truck i purchase.

over all though, the truck is a very good tow vehicle. Spending all day behind the wheel, hauling trailers that have worked me over pretty good in the past, was effortless with the 2010. If it weren't for the querky shifting habbits of the 6sp hunting for gears all the time, i'd say it was nearly perfect.

thanks for reading.

 

So i though i'd give another report, only this time i got creative and shot a little video.

it's kinda small, short, and crappy .. but there is some decent music in the background

anywho, i've only got enough memory on the phone for about 3 minutes of video, so i tried to show a stretch of rolling hills and how the truck handles them.

to me, i still say this is excessive. a couple things to take not of in the video:
everytime it was in 6th (less than 2000 rpm) it was down a hill or VERY flat.

any slight hill put 'er down into 5th (2100 rpm)

any hill of size at all caused it to go into 4th (2900 rpm)

something else to note is the amount of time it takes for the converter to completely lock on at 6-5 downshift.

for reference, the very first shift in the video is a 6-4 downshift, which it will do on occasion, and does pretty smoothly once it does a couple of them.

the video is the truck with the cruise set at 65mph, pulling a 3700 lbs message board into a 15-20mph headwind. it is smooth, but it still shifts quite a bit.

excessive? ford says "no" .. me ... seems like it shifts too much.

any thoughts?




2010 towing video by meborder - Photobucket

 

i counted the shifts, up and down, and got 11 shifts in a tick over 3 minutes. which means it is shifting, on average, every 16 seconds.

on another stretch, with a different board, i counted 25 down shifts in 31 miles. assuming every downshift is followed or preceeded by a upshift, that is about 50 shifts in 31 miles. doing the math puts that stretch at one shift every 30 seconds or so. the 31 mile stretch was quite a bit flatter than the stretch in the 3 minute video.

I know i've been somewhat vocal on my opinion about the shifting on the 2010's, so i thought i'd post up a video so you all can see exactly what i'm talking about, then hopefully give your opinion.

cheers!

 

You finally mentioned the fact that you set the cruise control at 65 MPH. That is the problem. I never set the cruise when towing unless it is consistantly flat terrain. The cruise cannot anticipate an upcoming hill and gradually add acceleration to account for the hill like I do with my foot. When it senses the loss of speed going up, it immediately downshifts to the next lower gear in order to hold the desired speed. Nex time you tow, try it without using the cruise and see if it shifts a lot less.

 

A six speed transmission is DESIGNED to shift about 50% more than a 4 speed. Using cruise control also is a "worst case" scenario. Try the same trip without cruise, and a little forward planning, and I'll bet you cut at least ten of those shifts.

Anyway, in my opinion, there is no issue. My truck has the 4 speed, and I wish it had more gear options when pulling a load. Staying in one gear for long periods isn't helpful if the gear ratio is wrong.

 

thanks for the input guys, i appreciate the input

my apologies for not mentioning the cruise in the first post, i thought that i had, but obviously forgot to mention it.

For me, towing in cruise is preferred. when fighting wind and trucks passing, worrying about how fast you are going is just one more worry, cruise control lightens the load while driving.

I did try a short section driving with my foot, and it is true, if you make a concious effort to reduce shifting, you can. that is to say, if i just kept my foot in it, it would not go into 6th. but without lifting, i would keep gaining speed and i don't want to go more than 65, not even down a hill.

as soon as you lift, or lift down a hill, it goes to 6th. and it wont pull a hill with a load in 6th. I guess that's why i'm frustrated with it. the computer knows it is shifting ever 16 seconds, and that ever upshift to 6th is followed very shortly by a downshift to 5th or 4th, it should just lock out 6th if it shifts out of it with any frequency. i guess that's my gripe.

i wish they would also alter the cruise settings if it is in tow/haul. that would allow it to lose a little speed going up a hill, so long as it does not continually lose, it can catch back up in the flats.

it just seems odd to me that the same computer doesn't controll everything. the cruise wants to keep EXACTLY 65, but sometimes that's not practical when towing ... how does it know you are towing? tow/haul mode.

i will say this though, the trans temp (gauge) never did move even with all of the shifting around, so i really don't think it hurts much. i think if you tried all of that shifting with your old school 4r70w or 4r100 you would be shopping for a new trans.

i guess it is just a pet peeve ... but, to me, that is a LOT of shifting around, half of which could be eliminated if 6th was not used.

thanks again for your opinions, i was hoping someone would comment.

 

I can understand wanting to lock out 6th gear when towing. It really is pretty useless unless the load is so light that it will actually tow it in 6th. Personally, I just like having a little more control when towing. There are so many idiots out there that will pull out in front of you, that I feel I can get off the gas and on the brake faster if not in cruise control. Just my preference.

 

it's funny how people can see the same problem and come up with different solutions

i like to use cruise because i can hover the brake but keep rolling, at the first sign of idiocy, i'm on the brake with no delay. removes about a 1/2 second from the reaction time because you don't need to move your foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal. (does not apply if you are a 'left footed braker')

i'm usually WAY more relaxed rolling on cruise with my foot hovering the brake when the road is busy. i'm sure it is all a matter of perception, but that's why i do what i do.

the "Select Shift" option on the 2011's makes this whole thread go away. but i thought i'd post it in case anyone is doing some homework and is curious how a 2009-10 will handle a load when towing.

if you're not sensative to shifting patterns, and it seems most aren't, then the 2010 is an AWESOME tow rig.... but if you are sensative to a transmission over which you have no controll .. well, they do what they do.

thanks again for chiming in ... i love the discussion!